05:46 AM EST, 11/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets churned Wednesday as traders weighed the outlook for China equities and looked forward to the pending earnings report of chip-producing colossus Nvidia (NVDA).

Hong Kong and Shanghai rose, while Tokyo lost ground. Other regional exchanges were also mixed.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly but faded, finishing off 0.2% as traders took to the sidelines and awaited the latest quarterly results of Nvidia, the world's most valuable enterprise and bellwether of the tech segment.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 62.09 to 38,352.34, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 144 to 81.

Leading the upside was Tokyo Gas, up 13% after a regulatory filing revealed US activist investor Elliott Management has taken a 5.03% stake in the utility. Insurer Tokio Marine declined 7%, after reporting earnings.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly, see-sawed, but finished up 0.2% after prominent US investor Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital said he was hunting equity bargains in mainland China, while speaking at a business summit in Hong Kong, reported the South China Morning Post.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 41.34 to 19,705.01, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 50 to 28. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.4% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 0.2%.

Leading the upside was knitwear-maker Shenzhou International, gaining 6.1%, while noodle-maker Tingyi declined 2.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.7% to 3,367.99.

In economic news, the People's Bank of China kept its one-year loan prime rate for November unchanged at 3.10% and the five-year rate, considered a peg for property mortgage rates, unchanged at 3.60%, dashing hopes for rate reductions.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.4%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.7%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.6%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.4%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.2%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.3%.

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